New York Gov. Kathy Hochul takes affordability pitch to Albany grocery store

Democratic Governor Kathy Hochul appeared at an Albany supermarket on Tuesday to promote her proposal to send tax rebates to millions of New Yorkers. 

At a Market 32 on Central Avenue, Hochul promoted her Inflation Refund checks proposal, which she unveiled a day earlier as part of a preview of her State of the State address.

Hochul says the checks, which will provide $300 to individuals making up to $150,000 a year and $500 to joint filers making up to $300,000 annually, would be covered by surplus sales tax revenue. The Democrat says she understands challenges facing New Yorkers.

“As a mom and someone who did all the family shopping and had to go to discount stores to pile up a big grocery cart with oversized packages of paper towels and toilet paper and Cheerios, just hoping they would last as long as possible before having to go back there again. I have a real innate feel for what families are going through right here in the great state of New York, and it’s too much,” Hochul said.

Selected to shop alongside Hochul was retired schoolteacher Sally McKenna. A Green Island resident and mother of four, she says prices are steep.

“If I’m paying almost six dollars for a pound of hamburger, in a pound, you’re only going to get four hamburgers, so you need to buy two pounds. You know, you look at the gallon of milk? Well, my kids went through three or four gallons of milk a week,” McKenna said.

McKenna says the money provided by the checks would make it easier for her to cover expenses.

“I have to decide what bills are going to get paid, what portion, but the first thing that comes out is the food budget that I know I spend every month, and to have a boost of a check like that would make it easier to then put something toward another bill,” McKenna said.

Hochul told reporters that her proposal is funded by an excess of sales tax revenue driven by higher consumer prices.

“This was unanticipated revenues that I could spend at the state level, or I can give it back to the New Yorkers, who, because of how much was taken out of their pockets, the state has more money. It’s a question of fairness; to me, this time, it belongs to them,” Hochul said.

While grocery prices have spiked in recent years due to inflation, there are signs that the cost of food is stabilizing. The U.S. Department of Agriculture predicts food-at-home prices will increase by 1.6 percent in 2025, a significant decrease from price spikes seen in 2022 and 2023.

Blaine Bringhurst is president of Price Chopper/Market 32. He says the supermarket chain was able to offer lower prices on holiday staples.

“Our turkeys were lower priced than they were last year. Both our commodity bird and our butterball bird, they were both cheaper than they were last year,” Bringhurst said.

As for what he’d like to see from state government, Bringhurst wants grocery stores to be able to sell wine direct-to-consumers and more actions to combat retail theft.

“Figuring out how to how to curb that a little bit would be another area that we could really improve, and that would help lower inflation,” Bringhurst said.

Republican state lawmakers say Hochul’s proposal to send checks to millions of state residents is a drop in the bucket. State Senator Jim Tedisco from the 44^th District says he wants a cap on state spending.

Hochul will deliver her State of the State address on January 14th in Albany.